Friday, December 12, 2014

Today, I am sharing a Farman which was granted by the mother of Mughal Emperor Akbar to a Brahmin who lived in the suburbs of Mathura. This farman by Hamida Bano Begum was to confirm an earlier farman of Akbar given in same regard. We had interesting discussions on Mughal Farmans few days back on the blog, hence this post.Following is her order:

Order of Hamida Banu {< note that the word "Begum" was missing from this order}

Contents:

" May it be known to the Krori and diligent officer and others of the Pargana of Mahaban in the Sarkar of the Great Seat (Capital) of the Empire, Agra, that according to the Farman of the Exalted and the just (Emperor), the cows belonging to the indisputable prayer-offerer (well-wisher) Vithalesharai Brahmin, may graze, wherever they are, and not a single individual out of the Khalis or jagir (land-holders) should molest them or prevent them (from grazing). They must permit his cows to graze (wherever they are).

The above mentioned (Vithalrai) should therefore remain easy at heart. It is incumbent (on all), that they must act according to the order and carry it out, and they should not act contrary to and against it ( should not deviate from it). Written on the 10th day of Ramzan al Mubarak, Hijri 989. "

*****

I could obtain a photocopy of the Persian Farman, though it was too much tattered.Thankfully, this document could be scanned. Here it is :

Here is another format of this farman:

About the Seal:

Note the farman. There is a stamp which appears to be circular in shape with some petals. It is the seal of Hamida Bano Begum. If one gets to see the farman in person,the details of this seal can be noticed. It is very beautiful.

Interestingly, this is the same seal from which Hamida Bano Begum had stamped an imperial document, around 30 years back, in 1550's. The document was presented for the first time by the British Library in 2013 in an exhibition.

There is an Islamic explanation for this seal. Hamida Bano Begum being a devout Muslim lady, would have most probably chosen this seal for the following reasons:"A flower with 8 petals is said to represent 8 attributes of Allah."

Notes:1. The date of this farman shared above is Sunday, the 8th of October 1581.

2.
Mahaban, is a small town in Mathura district of present day Uttar Pradesh state of India.

3. Similar farman of Hamida Bano
Begum, was mentioned few days back on
the blog by Preeti.{Link} I too, have read of a farman of similar nature : dated September
1587.4. A farman of this nature by Hamida Bano Begum bestowed to Vithal Rai, permitting him to graze his cows even in the jagir lands is NOT a small favor. The farman grants him the right to graze his cows anywhere without any molestation by anyone.!

This Brahmin must have been held in high favor/regard by Hamida Bano Begum, hence such an order. She would not go out of her way to grant him this favor. This also shows that the Royal ladies were not ONLY confined to the 4 walls of the harem, but also could interact with (select) people and were aware of the developments in the kingdom. It is not surprising that a royal lady has issued this farman, unless the person under consideration has impressed her greatly. Of course, such farmans were not gifted out to everyone, but only a few people of high repute.

5. This Vithal Rai was one of the two sons of a great saint of Mathura, Vallabhacharya who had impressed Akbar by his divine views.

6. Few days back
we were discussing the significance of this shape of the seal of Hamida
Bano Begum. The following details were shared on the blog by Radhika.
This 8-petal shape also holds a special place in Hindu mythology. It is
not known whether Hamida Bano Begum was impressed by the following
clause, but still sharing just for info. {Link}

"The 8-petalled lotus is very sacred to Hindus. Known as the
"ashta-dala-padma" , it is typically used, at least in the south now, as the
rangoli pattern on which Gods are installed for performing any major
puja. No major puja or religious ritual can be completed without using
this symbol of Goddess Lakshmi."

86 comments:

It's amazing to see a farman from Hamida Banu. And it shows she had the power to confirm orders issued by the emperor himself. It would imply she could also possibly also overrule the emperor's orders, if need be.

You had mentioned that you have 2 more farmans of Hamida Banu. Pls share them also if possible.

You are right. Even MUZ's farman shows that she had knowledge of what was happening in the kingdom and at least a few select people could approach her with their problems and get them resolved.

Abhay, wonderstruck to see the centuries' old docu. Btw, no.8 is also important fr Hindus. God is supposed to posses Ashta-aishwarya, wealth in 8 forms. This may also be co-incidental. history -geek, did Ruquiyya begum also had the power to issue farmaans? This only goes to show that the Audha of Mughal women was not toothless:)

Beautiful post, Abhay!The farman scan is a almost a piece of treasure. Something that really fascinated me was, how much importance and divinity is associated with the same symbol in different religions.

Nearly a month back i was in Amritsar and saw the Golden Temple. What really surprised me was it's similarity in structure to Mughal monuments i.e. the dome, the arches, the ornamentation on the walls. Also, around the pond or tank that surrounds the temple, there were inscriptions in Urdu/persian on the stairs which helped on descent into the pond for a holy dip. I saw these such inscriptions on the roof on the golden temple too. Both were present on the entrance and exit from the roof. Any explanation for this? Reply at leisure, when you have time. Or if anyone else knows an answer to this, plz share :)

Abhay, could you also upload a picture of MUZ's farman? Absolutely nothing would beat it! In your previous post, it was coolpree (i think) who talked about MUZ's seal being a pitcher. And surprisingly, even MUZ's tomb in Sikandra has carvings of pitchers on it's walls. Have a look: http://www.tombell.net/?p=667#comments

What a wonderful comment. !!Yes, you are right. MUZ's tomb also has a pitcher symbol like her seal. :))

I am going to post the picture of farman of MUZ. I have got the scanning done. I was only busy in procuring the Persian translations of her farman. It is almost done. And soon, the next post will be about her farman only.

About the question on Golden Temple. Lets see if anyone has an answer. I will also try to find it out. :)

Radhika,Hamida Bano Begum had great authority and could issue farmans independently. I will keep sharing the farmans as and when the scans are available. :)It is completely true that they were aware of the developments in the kingdom and the content of the farmans proves it. :)

Again we are online at the same time :DWaiting for that particular scan and your reply. And will always share whatever i get to know and if it can be posted here :)Also, will try to come here as often as possible. BTW i do, just don't comment so often :P

Read Radhika's update about Jahanara begum and it was lovely! Reading about another wonderful lady from that period. Interestingly, even she handled the pilgrimage ship. Looks like only the most important ladies in the harem held this job. It says a lot about MUZ's stand among Mughals :)

From your write-up, I've learnt that the eight petalled lotus has significance in Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism.I am a south indian and I know for sure that every Friday, my mother draws a pattern of the eight petalled lotus in the prayer room.

Hamida Bano was a cultured, dignified and powerful lady of her times. We also see that Hindus, their beliefs and seers were treated with utmost respect, during Akbar's rule.

Abhay small correction on dates though: it is the exact same Farmaan that I had referred to on the thread "MUZ forgotten enigma". The farmaan I had posted had the date 29 September 1581 AD not 1587 as you have stated above. I posted so many farmaan's on that thread that you may have mixed up the date :). Anyways can't wait till you find one of MUZ from the reign of Akbar. We already know one exists from Jehangir's reign

Abhay, Its Great, Clap for You, So Now we have to think, Abhay Kee Pitare mee Kya Kya Hee, Lol,

So farman by HB, Reading farman words Many things clear, HB kind Nature, +strong, will power,or Which place, she deserves in Mughal Era.If she was wife +Mother of King, But she has own Persoanilty, +Own Authority, to taking decesions. if we are in higher poistions, or we get, decesions authority, so Power misuse, Happens, But Using power, Right time, Right way is a great thing, or this farman shows this clear.But one thing clear More, Duties Distribuation, To Right Persons, Acc to reading, MUJ, also can use farmans, Salima Harem incharge, etc,So womens have their Own Responisbilites, if they are cap-able.Female freedom in 16 cen, its Great.so work load was not on One Authority. Its also shows, Akbar working System, If a person is tackling Whole Hindustan, its Not a easy task.or that person, suffering, a cheatedness by own realtives. If a person falls, easy to Standup, but if Own realtives, falls You, Very tough, to stand -up,After standing up, Handling, Own kingdom, or choosing Right persons, Ex, Navratns,Faith on Amer people,

After that Man (Akbar )lives a Heart, full life with Heartful partner, or changes,inner journey , Heart to Soul mate, or Alive today, feeling DREAM Land.

Exactly, Savtruth even i wanted to point out to the same thing :) It's like 'Ekam Sath Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti' There is one God. The same has been seen n described by many in different ways.Again Pitcher or Kalash is a symbol of purity. I am also curious to know how MUZ farmaan looked like n what fr she issued it:)

Ruk has no authority, to issue farmans, its clear shows, her place in Harem, so it means HB, + Akber knows her reality, +capacity, & thinking style, they knows, she will not use, this responsibility, in accurate Manner.

History-geek. in the serial, once there was a dialogue by Hamida begum to Akbar saying that he shud not forget that she has the power to overrule his orders. I don't remember now in which contxt it was.Can u please find out if there was indeed any incident in Mughal history where Shehanshah's order was overruled by Mariam Makani or MUZ?

When Jodha was upset over the arrest of Man Singh and returned her MUZ title, at that time, MM told Akbar that Jodha had done the right thing and during that convo, she said that she has the power to overrule the emperor.

If I am a good judge, I would say that MUZ would never overrule the emperor. She supported Akbar even when Salim went against him.

MM may have gone against Akbar - though this also I find hard to believe. Looking fwd to Abhay's answer on this Q. :)

I read in an article on economic times that the tomb was used as a printing press for a while. It has only been recently reinstated to it's former glory somewhat by sprucing up it's exteriors. I so wish to visit this place some time!

Radhika,There were some instances where Akbar and Mariam Makani's views differed on some issues. :)But that lady and Akbar, both were mature enough NOT to use their political personas (of Emperor and Queen Mother) in between all this. The decision was taken considering the best possible scenario in mind. :)

Have you seen the political developments in Thailand? Most interesting scenario. Pls check it out, if you haven't already, esp those who are desperate for Ruq's downfall in the JA show. :)

The Prince who is likely to become the next emperor (the emperor is ailing and not likely to survive for long) has divorced his wife, who has resigned from her position as the Princess. This was due to a number of her relatives getting exposed in a corruption scandal.

I was struck to see that no royal family links itself to tainted begums.

The case also reminded me of Nur Jahan, empress, whose relatives benefited a lot from her position.

Let's hope the MUZ tomb is returned to its pristine glory BY ASI soon.

I was wondering that just as the 8-petaled flower seal of Hamida Banu has significance in various religions, does the pitcher symbol of MUZ's seal too have any significance in other faiths?

Sav, I saw the photo you shared. The pitcher is an elongated one - its neck is long like that of a surahi used for storing water or the wine flasks of those times. Do you know if this symbol has any special meaning for muslims?

I read somewhere that Dara Shikoh had laid the foundation stone of the Golden Temple, though I don't know how true this is. He is said to have been close to the Sikh guru of that time. If the Mughals had any link to the construction of this temple, then it would be natural to have Persian inscriptions on the walls.

I will look this up if possible. In the meantime, hopefully, Abhay or someone else may tell us more about this. :)

Though the Mughals were of Turkic origin, they soon adopted Persian as the official language of the empire, which much later changed to Urdu. The Mughals were highly influenced by Persian art and culture, literature, language and even a sense of identity.

Babur and Humayun mostly used Turkic but later on, from the time of Akbar, Persian became identified closely with the Mughal empire.

{Btw, Geeta, there is one theory which states that the area of Central Asia ruled by Genghis Khan (a Mongol) was known to Persians as Mughalistan. And the people of this land were called Mughals. }

Golden Temple was (started)constructed in the time of Akbar. It is said that - Akbar donated some land/jaagir on which, later the Golden Temple came up. Persian was a "naturally" used language of those days. I think, this answers Sav's query to an extent. :)

This Vithalesharai seems like someone very important/privileged that so many farmans from the Emperor and the Queen Mother were issued for him!

Another way to look at this is that despite so many farmans, he was still harassed perhaps, forcing him to approach the king and queen mother again and again.

Do you have any idea of the dates of AKbar's farmans to him? I am intrigued that there is a 6 year gap between 1581 and 1587 when Hamida Begum issued him 2 similar farmans. Wonder if he never got the right to graze his cows anywhere till 1587 or if he was again troubled around 1587 for something similar.

really sorry to ask the same Q again and again but this farman business to the same person over so many years seems fascinating to me. I am really curious about the whole thing now. I am wondering how much authority the farmans had if they had to be reissued so many times?

Yes, you are right, that again and again, he had to approach the Imperial House for this grazing right. This is because that every time, some or the other "defect/loophole" was found in the orders. LOL.

Finally, a farman which was issued which said that even his family in future/future generations also, will not be asked for any tax or stopped from grazing.!!!!

So the officials in those days were quite bureaucratic in their approach, finding loopholes in the emperor's orders too and not following them blindly. LOL

This shows that even a powerful emperor like Akbar had limited control over the execution of his orders. No wonder that though he introduced so many reforms, they didn't seem to have reached everyone in his kingdom. :(

Thanks Radhika and Abhay!The foundation stone of Golden Temple was laid by a sufi saint Mian Mur. That is what i read. And Abhay is right, even the Guru Granth Sahib is written in Persian, some parts of it. This information raises more questions in my mind :)

No idea Radhika :-\Surahi isn't something i have read or heard anywhere to be part of any religion. Will definitely try to read about it more. One of the most intriguing thing about MUZ tomb is it's domeless-ness. And the structure is made of sandstone moslty instead of marble, like tombs of that time. Also, it has distinct Rajput style.Good to hear from you Radhika!

Mian Mir was a great mystic saint from Lahore. He was Dara Shikoh's preceptor to Sufism. Wow, it's incredible that this Sikh temple's foundation was laid by a Sufi saint on land given by a Mughal emperor!

Why more Qs? By Akbar's time itself, Persian had become the official language. Many Persian words had also crept into the language spoken by the common people. Punjabi derived from Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit. There was a time when Punjabi was written in Persian script. :)

It is said that Guru Gobind Singh was a Persian scholar and wrote the Zafarnama (letter of victory) to Aurangzeb in Persian. Most other gurus too were well-versed in Persian.

Therefore, the use of Persian in the holy book is quite natural, esp to write the words of the gurus. Yet the Punjabi hue is quite visible overall. :)

Anyway, do you know Persian isn't the only language used in the holy book?

Guru Arjan Dev included not only his verses and those of other Sikh gurus, but also the verses and poetry of 15 other saints and 11 poet laureates, whose work reflected the gospel expounded by Sikhism. Almost 22 languages (including dialects) of that time have been employed in the book. Besides Persian, Sanskrit, Hindi, Arabic, Marathi, Bengali and Prakrit etc languages have been used majorly.

Since the holy book is what Sikhs follow like a guru, it is vital that what is written there is understood by all. So, it may be that commonly used words from multiple languages were used to make the meaning clear.

Persian words that have been used, many in their Punjabi form, are so apt there and cannot be replaced by any other word, without making the verse less beautiful/divine. Words like hukm, raza (Punjabi form razai), Qudrat, Qadar, etc cannot be replaced by equivalent Indian words easily.

If you want to see how Persian has been used in the hymns and been given a regional flavor, you can read this: :)

radhika - nice correlation. i want 2 add another dimension. dere must b sme families who hide things inside. i knw tat babur gave a son of 1 of his wives 2 another wife. :-(bt d reasons of tat r not known clearly. it iz lyk d case of khurram to ruqaiya begum. if ny1 knows plz reply here.

Radhika, Abhay, Savtruth, thank u all fr this valuable info n the interesting discussion that followed.! U r right Radhika, it's more like a surahi than a Kalash.Btw, Savtruth was there any stepwell aslo nearby? I hv read that Salim had constucted a stepwell near her grave as per MUZ's wishes. As far as Golden temple is concerned,many sources say that this land was bought by Guru Ramdas Sahib on payment of rs. 700. frm Zamindar.Guru Arjan Sahib concieved the idea of having a central place of worship fr Sikhs, n designed the architecture of Harmandir.Whereas Hindu temple has one gate, he designed the Mandir with multiple gate meaning it is open fr people frm all caste, creed, religion,etc.What a noble thought! He also got the foudation laid by, muslim saint n his close freind saint Hazrat Mia mir of Lahore in1588.Radhika, since it was the time of Mughals, it's natural that it has their influence.Surprisingly, it is a unique combination of Muslim dome, has chhatris, lotus petals n as Savtruth said even the persian inscription.

Hi Sav,Jahangir's tomb and also Nur Jahan's tomb is "covered". They do not have domes over the cenotaphs but they are simply covered by a roof, and not open to sky. The spiritual reasons are related to not "covering" the cenotaphs and leaving it open to sky. :)

Hi Radhika, Abhay, Iqra , geeta, SAV and all... Since we have seen the pitcher/ surahi on mUZ tomb, can we then safely assume that the seal on MUZ farman may also be a surahi and not a kalash? When I posted info on MUZ farman from Timirzi, the farman was illustrated in his book but is very badly damaged and the seal is not visible at all. Hope Abhay is able to get a better scan of the Farman so we can maybe see the seal

The symbol on the MUZ tomb wall is most likely a surahi. These motifs were commonly used on the walls of palaces in Fatehpur Sikri and Sikandra in the early 17th century.

They were also used in wall niches in the background of imperial Mughal paintings, such as "the Death of Inayat Khan". Here they were used as design elements to provide relief in the stark composition of the painting.

Old Persian )from which Persian came later) and Sanskrit are both quite old and quite similar! :) Possibly they derived from the same source and then evolved into different languages over the years.

The ancient Persian religious books are called Avesta. Their language is quite similar to that of Vedas. Of course, with phonetic differences, such as "s" in Sanskrit is equivalent to "h" in old Persian.

We all know about Hindu/Sindhu, Hind/Sind. Aap meaning water is common to both. Sena in Sanskrit is Haena in old Persian/Avestan. Soma in Sanskrit is Homa in Avestan. And so on.

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